Dawn Nguyen Arrested in Rochester, NY Firefighters Ambush Incident

GREECE, N.Y. -- A 24-year-old woman was arrested Friday in connection with two of the firearms used in the Christmas Eve shooting of four volunteer firefighters east of Rochester.

Around 1:40 p.m., New York State Police, Webster Police and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives descended on the home where Dawn Nguyen and her mother, Dawn Welsher, were staying. Nguyen was taken out of the home in handcuffs.

Senior Investigator James Newell of the state police said Nguyen was charged with offering a false instrument for filing.

Nguyen is also facing federal charges for allegedly lying about the purchase of the semiautomatic .223-caliber Bushmaster rifle, equipped with a combat-style flash suppressor, and the .12-gauge Mossberg shotgun used in Monday's slayings of two first responders and the wounding of three others.

Nguyen is not connected to a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson pistol also recovered.

U.S. Attorney William Hochul Jr. said at a 4 p.m. ET press conference that Nguyen bought the guns on June 6, 2010, from a Gander Mountain store in Henrietta, south of Rochester.

He said William Spengler Jr., a former neighbor in Webster who ignited an inferno and ambushed first responders before dawn Monday, picked out the guns and Nguyen bought them.

As as a convicted felon, Spengler was banned from owning guns. He served 17 years in state prison for killing his grandmother with a hammer in 1980. Nguyen lived next door to Spengler for about five years, in the house where he killed his grandmother.

"It is sometimes referred to acting as a 'straw purchaser' and that is exactly what today's complaint alleges," Hochul said.

Hochul indicated that in his rambling suicide note, Spengler revealed how he got the guns.

Police interviewed Nguyen late on Christmas Eve and she told officers she had bought the guns for personal protection and that they were stolen from her vehicle, but she never reported them stolen.

On Christmas, Nguyen texted an off-duty Monroe County Sheriff's deputy and referenced the killings, the Associated Press says. Later, police said, she called the deputy and admitted she bought the guns for Spengler.

Nguyen's lawyer, Dave Palmiere, said Friday that his client "purchased the weapons legally, and they were stolen," but that she doesn't recall whether she reported the theft to police.

Several neighbors described Nguyen's home in Greece, west of Rochester, as quiet, but said there was constant traffic in and out. There were five or six cars parked in the driveway Friday afternoon.

Earlier Friday, Welsher's son said the weapon actually was stolen from Nguyen's car.

"They think they sold him the guns, but he stole them," said Welsher's 18-year-old son, Steven Nguyen, in the doorway of the family's Seneca County, N.Y., home.

In the doorway of a home in Greece, Welsher said her lawyer advised her not to speak to the media. "All I can say is, I'm being set up," she said.

In a voice message recorded earlier Friday, Welsher told a Democrat and Chronicle reporter she wanted to talk.

"This is nuts," she said in the recording. "I never supplied this man with nothing. My daughter never supplied him with anything. He's setting us up."

Nguyen said his mother was questioned by police Monday. She left her home early Friday morning and went to her daughter's residence, her son said.

"She said she wanted to go up there before there was an arrest," Steven Nguyen said.

Law enforcement sources said Thursday that an arrest in the case was imminent.

Spengler shot four firefighters, killing two — Lt. Mike Chiapperini and Tomasz Kaczowka — and severely injuring two others before shooting himself fatally in the head. The fire burned for hours unchecked because of the danger Spengler posed. It destroyed seven houses and seriously damaged two others.

Welsher and her son said they are former neighbors of Spengler. They lived one house east of Spengler's address, for about five years. The family moved to Seneca County last year, the son said.

Steven Nguyen claimed that at least one gun that belonged to his sister, Dawn Nguyen, was stolen from his sister's car several years ago. The gun was taken from the trunk as it was parked at the family's home, he said.

"I think there was only one gun," said Steven Nguyen, who added that he did not know if his sister reported the theft to law enforcement.

He said Spengler was "nice, but he was a little crazy."

"He always had holes in his jeans. He used to come over every day to talk to my mom," said Steven Nguyen, the youngest of Welsher's seven children.

"I think he had a crush on her," the son said.